Charcuterie: the french culinary art of the production of meat, sausages, pate, and terrines. ​

A charcuterie board is a presentation that combines meats & various items to explore flavors. There are four components to consider when building a board: Texture | Flavors | Color | Shape Choose your products in a three-tier system: Meats Cheese | Fruit Veggies | Nuts | Crackers | Bread | Spreads | Preserves | Honey Planning your quantity: How many people will be attending? approximately 2oz of each meat per person Hors d’oeuvres, plan for 2-3 meats | Main Course, plan for 5-6 meats

Meat Criteria Whole Muscle cuts - sliced thinly for texture Cured Sausages - for a hearty texture Pate - for a soft and delicate texture Cured whole meat - dry cured vs. wet cured Cured sausage - this product is preserved and fermented in its casing Pate- cooked and very finely chopped meats and ingredients Terrines- mixture of meats and ingredients, cooked and settled into a loaf

Cheese Criteria Bright & tangy - soft cheese (feta, Brie, & Camembert) Bold & stinky - blue cheese (Gorgonzola, Roquefort, & Stilton) Aged & sharp - hard cheese (Cheddar, Gouda, Muenster, Parmesan, & Romano) Fresh or Ripened Goat - low fat content, sharp & tangy flavors Cow - medium fat content, ranges greatly in flavors Sheep - highest fat content, rich, buttery & mild in flavors

Presentation ● Eat with your eyes ● Build the board to have dimension ● Make the ingredients easily accessible ● Serve with appropriate serving utensils ● Serve at room temperature

Wine Pairing Sweet - Wine should be sweeter than food (acidity helps prevent cloying sweetness) Acidic - Wine should be as or more acidic (acidity cancels out acidity and allows other flavors to emerge) Salty - Counter with acid, off-dry or bubbles (salt adds texture and decreases bitterness, acidity, and tannin) Bitter - pair with tannic or counterbalance with fruity, full-flavored wines *Umami - intensifies bitterness, acidity, and tannins (can mitigate this effect with acid) *Spicy - heat intensified by bitterness, acidity, and tannins (softened by fruity and/or sweet)

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